Helloooooooo, loyal readers! After a much needed hiatus (aka college is kicking my ass) I have gotten a less-intense semester of classes. Hopefully you will all like knowing that my classes are all for my major, so I'm that much closer to being an author for real! Hopefully after my little break, my writing is a little better than it was beforehand, so fingers crossed! As always read, review, and enjoy!

I awoke in a cold sweat, as I had every night for the past week. I muttered a swear word and rolled onto my back. Always the same freaking dream! I couldn't stay in the hot confines of my blankets, so I got outo f my bed and went to my bathroom. I didn't have a roommate – none of the other dhampir girls wanted to room with me – so I didn't bother closing the door before I turned on the light.

I splashed some cold water on my face, studying myself in the mirror, squinting slightly at the harsh fluorescence after being asleep. My green eyes were dull, my straight golden-brown hair hanging limply around my pale cheeks.I didn't know who my biological parents were – my adoptive parents didn't know either – but they clearly hadn't done me any favors in regards to my appearance. I understood that my father, whoever he was, was pale, because he was undoubtedly Moroi – Moroi women didn't get involved with dhampir men, so it had to be him. But my mother… There had to be something wrong with her, because I'd never met one so pale. I would never really know, but I still obsessed over it every time I looked in the mirror.

A tap on my door drew my attention. I looked at my clock. It was two o'clock in the afternoon – who the hell was up right now?

I opened the door to my room and found my best friend, Nicolas Dragomir, standing there in blue plaid flannel pants and a gray sweatshirt.

"Nick? What are you doing here?"

"Your aura was wrong… I came to see if you were all right," he said, his jade-green eyes looking into mine.

"How could you tell whether my aura was right or wrong?" I demanded.

"I live across the hall from you, Claire," he reminded me. "I can sense you as if you were sitting in the same room. Now answer my question. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled, letting him in. "Why are you even up?"

"I was finishing that paper for Mr. Nagy's class," he replied. "Why are you up?" He flicked his head to toss his jet-black hair out of his eyes.

"Bad dreams," I said evasively. "Not a big deal."

My words did not fool him. He sat down sideways on my bed, his back against the wall and his long legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles. "I'm not leaving until you tell me."

I sighed and went to sit beside him. "You know Valerie's gonna be mad that you came here."

"She doesn't need to know everything. And I'm not scared of Valerie," he said dismissively.

"I am," I muttered. His girlfriend, Valerie Zeklos, had inherited her father Jesse's fire magic, as well as her vain sense of self-image and manipulative personality. She had a strong dislike for all non-royal Moroi, and hate for all dhampirs. She harbored a special loathing for me.

To change the subject, I spoke again. "My dad won't be happy you were here either."

Nick's expression changed. "Yeah, him I'm afraid of," he said uneasily.

"Oh, don't be," I said. "He can't do anything to you."

"No, but he could tell your mom, and she'd tell my mom, and she'd do something."

I giggled. "Your mom could pass a law to get us in trouble."

"Yes, having the queen as a mother does have that downside."

"But hey, you'll be the king, so you can get us out of trouble."

He groaned. "Don't remind me. There are so many people fawning over me because they know I'll be king someday. I'm so tired of it."

"But…if your mother is a good enough ruler that the Moroi world chose to keep her bloodline in power, shouldn't that be good enough for you? You already have their full support."

"Yeah, until they learn that I'm dangerous and unstable. Sabrina's been helping me fake water magic, but eventually everyone will figure it out… And then it'll become a nightmare.

I didn't know what to say to him, so I remained silent.

"Speaking of nightmares, you still need to tell me about yours," he said.

"Nick!" I whined.

"Come on, Claire, I just want to help."

I sighed. "You're not going to leave until I tell you, are you?"

"Nope." He flicked his hair back and gave me his most charming grin, knowing it would work. He had inherited his mother's winning personality, and he knew it.

I pouted as I began to tell him. "It's a recurring nightmare. I'm a guardian, and my Moroi and I are being chased by a Strigoi. We get cornered and I tell the Moroi to run while I fight the Strigoi. But I freeze, and the Strigoi is able to get the Moroi, and changes them into another Strigoi."

"So you're worried about failing as a guardian?" he asked thoughtfully. "When did this start?"

"A few days ago."

"You're probably nervous for your field experience. That starts tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So, it's your most realistic training exercise that you'll ever have. The closest you can get to the real thing. You're probably stressing over it."

"You think so?"

He nodded. "Yeah. And I think that a big part of your stress is that your mom has been putting so much pressure on you. It's like how I feel with my mom… She's got a big name to live up to, same as your dad, and I think you're worried that you won't. But at the same time, I think that them being your parents has more impact than you know. You have a double advantage. It's part of you. Having Rose Hathaway and Dimitri Belikov as parents? Most people would kill to have them as parents, that's basically inherited badassness."

"I'm adopted, you idiot!"

"I know that, I'm not a moron. It's not all about genetics! Look at your dad. His father is some snobby Ivashkov royal. His mother is a housewife in Russia, and he never sees either of them. Your mother never sees either of her parents. And they're still the two most badass guardians there have ever been. My point is, you can't determine what kind of guardian you'll be yet."

"That doesn't help me feel any better," I muttered.

"Yes it does. Your aura is better. Now go back to sleep, your field experience starts tomorrow."

"Fine," I grumbled. "Get out of my room."

"Bossy," he teased, but he stood and headed toward my door. He paused in the doorway. "Cheer up. And hey, if you have that dream again, could you give me some badass fire magic?"

He ducked out, laughing, as I threw a ball of socks at him. They hit the back of my door and fell to the floor. I turned off my light and got back into bed. My blanket smelled like him, so I hoped it would bring me friendly comfort, but all it did was feed my sleepless anxiety as I fretted about the coming weeks.